Costco isn’t authorized to sell Tiffany items, the New
York-based jewelry retailer said in a complaint filed yesterday
in federal court in Manhattan.

Tiffany said it was alerted by a customer in November who
saw signs offering “Tiffany” rings in a Huntington Beach,
California, Costco store.

“Costco had apparently been selling different styles of
rings for many years that it has falsely identified on in-store
signage as ‘Tiffany,’” according to the complaint.

The Issaquah, Washington-based company, which runs more
than 600 warehouse stores, has led customers to believe they
were buying authentic Tiffany items at discount prices, Tiffany
said. The sales “unlawfully trade off Tiffany’s goodwill and
brand awareness,” it said.

‘Tiffany, which has sold trademarked luxury items for 175
years, is seeking to prevent further sales of counterfeit
diamond engagement rings as well as unspecified damages
associated with prior sales, the company said in the complaint.

“We now know that there are hundreds if not thousands of
Costco members who think they bought a Tiffany engagement ring
at Costco, which they didn’t,” Jeffrey Mitchell, a lawyer for
Tiffany, said in a statement. “Costco knew what it was doing
when it used the Tiffany trademark to sell rings that had
nothing to do with Tiffany.”

Joel Benoliel, Costco’s chief legal officer, didn’t
immediately reply to a voice-mail message left at his office
seeking comment about the lawsuit.

The case is Tiffany and Co. v. Costco Wholesale Corp.,
1:13-cv-01041, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New
York (Manhattan).